It is imperative from a safety standpoint before loading or unloading a vehicle (e.g., truck or trailer) parked at a loading dock that the vehicle be effectively restrained from moving away from the dock. Various devices have heretofore been proposed to accomplish the desired result; however, such devices are beset with one or more of the following shortcomings: (a) the operation of the device is adversely affected by weather conditions; (b) the device is susceptible to being damaged by the vehicle when being maneuvered into a parked position; (c) the device incorporates numerous components requiring an inordinate amount of servicing and maintenance; (d) the device is difficult to install and oftentimes requires substantial structural modifications to be made to the existing loading dock; (e) the device requires the party manipulating same to be located on the roadway adjacent the dock while the vehicle is being maneuvered into the parked position and, thus, care must be exercised by such party to avoid being struck by the vehicle; (f) the device is incapable of accommodating vehicles, the physical dimensions of which vary over a wide range; (g) manipulation of the device requires the expenditure of a substantial amount of manual effort; and (h) the device cannot effectively compensate for height variations of the vehicle load-bearing bed during the loading or unloading operations.